The Avengers: Family Ties
by ErikaKvetaMasek
Summary: They say that blood is thicker than water but for Loki he has never had those ties, or has he? In the aftermath of the events of Thor The Dark World discoveries are made and new ties are found. Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Pairings include: ThorxJane, LokixOC, TonyxPepper, BrucexNatasha, StevexAgent May
1. Prologue: Into Odin's Sleep

The Avengers: Family Ties

Prologue: Into Odin's Sleep

 _"Odin asked for one drink from the well, but he did not get this until he gave one of his eyes as a pledge."_ _  
_ _ **—The Prose Edda**_

Blue energy rippled across the glass ceiling in waves shattering it with precision. Instantly what was once a peaceful market turned into chaos as everyone scrambled to avoid the falling shards. Creatures born out of the worst nightmare suddenly blinked into being and started firing blasts of dark energy at any human in firing distance. Screams of all pitches filled the air as loved ones were cut down in front of each other with no mercy.

Just as the slaughter reached a fever pitch another ripple of blue energy opened a portal in the already chaotic market. It was much bigger and began filling the building with a chilly wind. If one cared to stop moving long enough to look they would see a dark world covered in snow. The wind carried this snow into the building in rapidly increasing gusts. The dark elves stopped their rampage and turned to the portal with dread. The Jotun were their longtime enemies and rivals when it came to the conquering of Midgard and they were not interested in a confrontation. A roar shook both the world beyond and the building it had manifested in. Through the portal leaped a terrifying monster. It stood even with the ceiling and its dark grey hide already dripped with elven blood. Without missing a beat it snarled and devoured the nearest elf with horrible ferocity. The elves tried to surround the beast to confuse it but all that did was enrage it.

One brave elf took a flying leap at the beasts back attempting to fire his weapon as he went. With a sharp crack his shot landed just to the side. The reason being a long frostbitten spear had whistled through the still open portal skewering him before the shot could land in the beast's weak point. The beast whirled around only to whimper instead of snarl. This was the beast's mistress and it knew better that to snarl lest it wanted to lose its head. The Jotun female stood taller than the average woman but was shorter than she should be. The dark elves surrounding her and her beast began to chatter with anticipation. Surely at her stunted height she wasn't a full Jotun and therefore less of a threat. She wore traditional fur lined leather armor and had a short sword at her hip with two daggers attached to each thigh. Her scarlet eyes evaluated the elves before her and scoffed. This was the best that Malekith had to offer? As one dared get close enough to fire his weapon she called her lance to her with magic and used the blade to decapitate it so fast the others became immediately frightened. As they tried to retreat and regroup the Jotun gave a battle cry calling her beast to devour them all. They didn't even have a chance to get very far before they became beast bait. She gave a throaty chuckle at the happy noises her beast was giving between crunches of bone and sinew.

Just then a familiar mighty hammer came blasting through the wall knocking her to the ground and slamming into her beast carrying both hammer and beast back through the portal onto Jotunheim soil. Once something passed through the portal it began to rapidly close. She had no chance as it sealed just seconds before her jump could take her through. The hit from Mjolnir had dazed her enough that instead of recovering and landing on her feet her body skidded across the tile and slammed into a vendor cart. She groaned and shove the contraption off and away from her body. The lancer stared forlornly at where her way home had been only to snap her head sideways as she heard someone shouting at her. A male Midgardian in strange blue clothing was shouting at her pointing a small metal weapon in her direction. She snarled and leap up and onto the metal frames that had once held the glass ceiling together. She sprinted across it and dropped into a side alley. She immediately flattened against the brick and chanted a quick illusion spell to make herself unnoticeable to the human eye. The strange man sprinted past her into the street only to be flattened by one of the metal contraptions the humans used for transportation. She almost felt bad but still giggled at the bad timing. Dispelling the illusion she immediately scanned the area and felt as Thor and Malekith had their final confrontation. With the dark elf leader vanquished she decided her assistance was unnecessary and conjured a glamour to look human and hid her weapons from human perception.

Exiting the alley rapidly she blended in with the injured that were rapidly fleeing Greenwich smoothly. She could find a way to fit in until she could find one of the Liesmith's shortcuts to Jotunheim. Finding said shortcut when the Silvertongue always covered his tracks was going to be difficult but not impossible and she was sure to get some entertainment out of the Midgardians in the meantime.

* * *

One hour earlier in Asgard

The Allfather watched the guard approach with a heavy heart and an even heavier soul. He had felt the tremors when his adoptive son's magic had snuffed out after causing waves of energy only moments before. The chaotic element to Loki's magic had always made it stand out. He watched the guard stop and look up with sympathetic eyes.

"Forgive me my liege, I've returned from the Dark World with news".

"Thor", he asked with dread. For if one brother was most likely dead than the other had no doubt been in a grief stricken rage destroying all within sight and not that hard to spot. He turned to face the guard and sensed something familiar as he spoke.

"There was no sign of Thor or the weapon but…."

"What", he asked realizing where the familiarity he was sensing came from and realizing the incoming deception for what it was with an internal grimace.

"We found a body". The man in front of him pretended sympathy but Odin already knew who really stood before him.

"Loki", he stated this with certainty and watch his disguised son dip his head in confirmation and shook his head. To his credit the trickster himself barely flinched when suddenly his illusion was torn from him leaving him gasping in his actual form. He stared up at the Allfather in fury.

"How"?! He had cloaked himself with the strongest most complicated glamour spells at his disposal and had easily fooled the other guards on his way to Odin, had even fooled Heimdall upon entry to Asgard yet the Allfather had figured it out and seen through him.

"You may no longer be a child but I recognize this prank my son-". He was interrupted before he could continue.

"I am _not_ your son", Loki shouted enraged that the Allfather continued the lies even now.

"I took you in Loki when you were but a babe and raised you as my own regardless of your origin", he shouted back tired of this same argument. He felt a sudden surge of weariness and knew he could put off the Odin's Sleep no longer and spoke quickly hoping that his youngest could read into his intent.

"I am not going to argue with you any longer. If the throne and Gungnir were the goals of this deception than you may have them". Loki stumbled back in shock. Surely this was some kind of trick to lower his guard. However as he glared at Odin he saw nothing but determination and could sense nothing but sincerity.

"Why, why now would you choose to give your power and position over to me instead of Thor"? None of it made sense. Odin had groomed Thor not Loki to take the throne in his stead, had made it very clear through favoritism that he had no place taking what was Thor's. Yet here the Allfather stood proclaiming Loki as the one to take his place.

"There are conditions of course", Loki scoffed not surprised in the least, "Firstly Thor must not know you are alive and that I reside in Odin's Sleep". That however did surprise him.

"You wish me to keep Thor in the dark"? The Allfather nodded much to Loki's shock.

"I give you two months. If you can keep up my appearance and stay quiet about our deception without revealing that you live you may keep the throne the entire century I rest". It was an amazingly easy deal in Loki's opinion. He was a showman at heart after all and maintaining the glamour would be child's play.

"And let's say I fail and reveal that I live to even one person, what then", he asked smirking. It's wasn't as if that was going to actually happen but he wasn't going into this without all the information available.

"If you reveal that you yet live then the role of all decision making will go to Thor in my stead. You will however retain Gungnir". It was a strange consequence. He would lose the throne yet retain the most powerful weapon in the nine realms. What Odin thought that would do he had no idea but the deal was tempting regardless of the unknowns.

"And what happens if I refuse your generous offer". He had been forced to fake his death after all and did not want to compromise if he didn't have to.

"Then I will throw in your eldest son's cell to join him in eternal imprisonment with no visitation". Loki snarled at the Allfather's audacity. To bring Fenrir into this showed no mercy. The poor boy was locked in his wolfen form and unable to communicate. To imprison them together would be emotional torture for his son. Then again it wasn't like anyone else would know. Very soon word would spread that he had apparently perished on the Dark World and no one would be looking for him. He thought on it but in the end could not and would not bring any of his children into this. They had all suffered enough for their association with him.

"I agree to your terms Allfather but where will you rest"? He couldn't very well go into Odin's Sleep in the so named chamber while a double ruled the throne. The Allfather smiled.

"I will rest under Fenrir's watchful eye. No one will look for me there". This was the third time in less than an hour that Loki was in shock. The whole reason Fenrir was forcibly transformed and chained had been due to the fear instilled by the prophecy of Ragnarok. For the Allfather to trust him to watch over him while he rested was unfathomable. It did however make sense in that it would be the last place they would look for Odin should Loki reveal the deception. The Allfather descended the steps and stood in front of Loki with his hand outstretched. Loki took Odin's hand and proceed to morph into the man's perfect double. With tired hands Odin held Gungnir out for Loki to take fully anticipated the man to attempt to kill him with his own weapon but while Loki was many things he kept his word and did nothing.

"Malekith has perished so prepare yourself for Thor's return while I go to my rest and should the nine realms fall into disarray you will have no more second chances Loki", the Allfather's words rang with finality as he disappeared.

A/N *phew* That took a while to plan and crank out. This fic has been in the works for over a year unlike my others and should have quicker updates. Please rate and review.


	2. Chapter 1: Operation Valkyrie

The Avengers: Family Ties

Chapter 1: Operation Valkyrie

Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers, comics or movie universe

" _Let us make our drawn swords glitter, you who stain the wolf's teeth with blood, now that the fish of the valleys thrive, let us perform brave deeds."_

 _ **\- Egil's Saga**_

New York City had been through more in the last decade than most empire's had been through in centuries. It arguably could be said that it all started back in the 1940's with the Red Skull and his maniac army however most said that the modern troubles started in New Mexico with Thor's hammer Mjolnir. After that everything the humans of Earth knew what shattered and they were shaken to the core with the truth that they were not only not the most advanced or capable form of life in the universe but they were woefully lacking in power. Then of course came a series of events that led to the forming of the largest super hero group known as the Avengers, Thor included of course. With the introduction of the infinity stones came even more chaos and it all eventually blended together into all-out war, not just with the rest of the universe but with each other. Both the civil war on Midgard and Ragnarok in Asgard had shook all the heroes to their core. Thanos thought he could take advantage but really the big purple guy should have known better in Tony's opinion. After all tragedy and strife have a tendency to bring even the most horrible of enemies together. Not that Loki was all that terrible in the engineer's opinion but Fury and Coulson had nearly vetoed his opinion on the subject when he had advocated with Thor for the guy's pardon in the aftermath of the Infinity War. Wasn't that just the most cliché title ever? He had argued for better titles and had of course been blown off.

Tony Stark, known to the people at large as Iron Man, was interrupted in the middle of his musings by the audible clearing of a throat. He jumped a little in his chair and refocused on the glaring acid green eyes of his companion. The god in question had been in the middle of a rant about the ridiculous population of NYC and how they should of mostly all moved after disaster after disaster had struck the city when he had noticed that the billionaire in front of him wasn't even listening. Tony flashed an apologetic grin Loki's way and focused his attention back on the God of Chaos.

"Sorry Lokes didn't mean to space out on you. What were you saying", he practically chirped. Loki winced at the fake cheer the man put into his voice. Surely Stark knew he couldn't put a front on in front of him. He just sighed and shook his head.

"Never mind Anthony, just ranting to myself it seems. As for the actual reason I called you to this luncheon, you are aware that both Thor and I will be unavailable the next 30 days correct"? Tony frowned, he had forgotten about that. With all but one of the infinity stones in the wind the Guardians had requested both residents Gods help tracking down any leads they found. They would have taken some of the Avengers along too but Tony had kind of burned that bridge when he had tried to reverse engineer Star Lord's ship. It really wasn't his fault…yeah no it was his fault.

"Yeah I remember, just don't blame us if Amora somehow gets your trail out of us while you're gone Loki", he stated grinning as he saw the man grimace. The Enchantress was still playing her games of seduction and sedition on the poor Liesmith. Apparently nearly universe ending war didn't even slow the crazy woman down. He was going to tease the frazzled god more but then their food arrived. Tony frowned when he recognized the daughter of the man who owned the Shawarma restaurant instead of his favorite waitress.

"Is Scotty not in today", he asked anxiously. This restaurant was not only his favorite but a favorite for all of the Avengers and not just because of the excellent food. The place was almost entirely family owned and ran with one exception. Her name was simply Scotty and she was a tall and gorgeous Scandinavian woman who had become one of Tony's closest friends over the years. She knew his chaotic visits to the restaurant by heart and was always there when he was, except for right now apparently. The poor young woman in front of him apologized profusely saying that the older woman had called in sick. Sick Tony's metal ass was his thought. The woman was healthier than almost all the women in New York City, he knew because he had scanned her once with his watch while she wasn't looking to make sure. This just confirmed his running theory that she was avoiding being introduced to Loki for some reason or another he couldn't fathom. Scotty and Thor had gotten along instantaneously so he didn't see any reason to avoid his brother unless it was some kind of superstitious nonsense. Even that he couldn't see though since the woman's mind ran the almost exact same logical pathways as his own. He was interrupted from his grumbling by an impatient Loki.

"Why is it so important you introduce me to this waitress friend of yours Anthony", Loki inquired inquisitively. It was rare for Tony to insist he meet anyone to do with his personal life. Tony huffed and puffed for a bit before explaining.

"She's entirely too smart and overqualified for her job for one. Her sense of humor is practically the same as yours too. Besides she helped engineer the new floor plan for the tower". That last statement had Loki staring at the man in shock. In all the years he had known Tony Stark he had never asked for help on nor included anyone in the creation of his precious babies, the tower included. Apparently he had been wrong, then again the new tower had seemed a little more creative for it to be solely drawn up by Tony. His and Thor's floor in particular had Asgardian influence yet neither he nor Thor had been asked to help the engineer. He had though Sif might have had an influence but now he wasn't sure.

Suddenly both men's phones chirped at the same time. Tony's rang the national anthem rock edition which heralded a message from Steve Rogers. Loki's just rang with the standard chirp but he knew it was Thor asking where he was. Both men sighed in equal tones of exasperation. Tony waved their young waitress down so they could get their food to go while Loki stepped out to call Thor. Once he had their food all wrapped up and paid for he looked at his phone and nearly knocked over the other man in his haste to get to the car. The text had read simply _'I have an update on that personal case Bruce had me look into but you had better hurry Tony, he isn't taking it well'_. That meant that the info they got didn't bode well and Bruce was edging towards a Code Green. When he told Loki as much he paled and hung up on Thor to scramble into Tony's Ferrari. They sped away from the curb straight into New York City midday traffic with much horn blaring from other drivers.

* * *

At Avenger's tower both Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanov were trying to calm the poor doctor who was starting to turn a little green around the edges. What could possibly make Bruce Banner angry enough to relapse one might ask, the answer is quite simple. Several years ago his first love Eleanor Waldgrave a fellow science major had suddenly joined the Marine Corps with no warning. At first he had been angry since she had been a major contributor on the project that would eventually give him his mean and green second personality and while Betty Ross had picked up the slack it had still been a major blow to the project. However, after she shared her reasons he couldn't be angry especially since she remained supportive and loving even after his accident. They remained in contact through the years and when he had first joined the Avenger's she randomly showed up to the tower in her dress uniform to scare the crap out of Tony with a full marine interrogation on Bruce's behalf. That ended up gaining her a new friend in the form of one Tony Stark. She had tried shaking the man but it became impossible once he made his mind up. Soon after he and Natasha started their whatever it was she had confronted the Black Widow as well which had devolved to a sparring session in one of the Avenger's training gyms. He had panicked at first thinking that his first and current loves were going to kill each other but the match had ended in a tie with bruises and sprains on both ends as well as a healthy amount of respect on both sides. Then tragedy had struck. When Grant Ward decided to take over Hydra he ordered attacks on the Avengers loved ones. It was anyone's guess how he found out about Eleanor but he did and had her small base annex attacked full force. The Marines held out for as long as they could but by the time Steve and Natasha had gotten there the base was ruined and nearly all the marines had been killed or captured. Steve had promised both Tony and Bruce that he would have the new SHEILD keep their ears open for any updates.

An update had finally come in that morning and it hadn't been positive. Gideon Malick who had previously been considered mostly neutral when it came to the war between SHIELD and HYDRA had revealed himself to be HYDRA old blood and intent on continuing HYDRA's original goals and aims before Red Skull had taken over. One of those aims had apparently involved stealing Ward's marine captives out from under him. Where he had those prisoners sent they were still working out but the fact that Eleanor was currently in HYDRA custody did not bode well and Bruce was currently trying to work himself down from a panic attack. The Hulk wasn't helping the situation. The big guy had a fondness for Eleanor the same as he had a recurring fondness for both Betty and Natasha. He was demanding that 'Puny Banner' let him loose so he could go find Ellie. Thus Bruce's current internal battle. Thankfully right on que Tony burst into the common area panting like he had actually sprinted up the stairs instead of using their private elevator with a noticeably ruffled Loki in tow. He immediately rushed to Bruce's side with a syringe already in hand. The unique sedative cocktail was of Bruce's own creation for times when the big guy got too insistent for even Bruce to handle.

"Here you go Brucey, let's hope this does its job huh", he said as he stabbed the needle in the usual spot on Bruce's arm. Gradually the Hulk's roars subsided into ornery grumbling. Bruce sighed in relief and gave Nat and Steve the ok signal so they could relax as well.

"Alright Cap what the hell kind of info did you get to get that kind of reaction hmm', he asked turning to the tall blonde man with an eyebrow raised. Steve for his part winced. He already had known how Dr. Banner was going to handle the information but Tony was a wild card. Steve relayed the limited information in a rush and felt a chill of dread race down his spine at how quiet Tony got afterwards. While the billionaire seemed like a flippant ass when it came to close friends and comrades he had an overprotectiveness that could result in something horrible if anyone hurt those closest to him. How Aldrich Killian remained at large was a mystery.

"Friday I need a running list of all the old HYDRA bases as well as a possible location for Malick", he stated coolly to his Combat AI with a perfect poker face. Tony's eyes however shone with an intense fury that made Steve almost feel pity for the man that was Stark's current target. Natasha on the other hand smirked. There was no way Gideon was staying under the radar anymore, not with Tony on his tail full force. She was going to enjoy helping with this chase. Loki just shook his head at HYDRA's foolishness. These humans he had the privilege to call comrades in arms had fought of the most powerful man in the entire galaxy and yet such a small and scattered organization still thought they could win? Such fools had whatever fury Tony unleashed fully deserved in his opinion.

Just then the main doors swished open to reveal Thor in his full Asgardian armor and a prominent frown on his face and on his forehead. Loki was still wearing the casual slacks and turtleneck he had been wearing at the restaurant and was not ready for departure at all. However, upon seeing the Thunder God's expression Loki rolled his eye and with a flick of his wrist and some sparks of green magic he was dressed fully in his Asgardian armor Gungnir in hand. The Avengers blinked at his transformation, they were still getting used to Loki's abrupt way of doing things.

"We were due to meet Star Lord and his crew half an hour ago Brother", Thor rumbled at Loki who just sighed.

"That man and his strange compatriots have been well over an hour late to all of our preparatory meetings Thor. I doubt they are even at Asgard yet", he stated exasperated. Loki strode over to the automated doors that lead to the huge balcony and opened them to allow Thor through. All the Avengers watched with a sort of lackluster anticipation as the Bifrost opened to allow both Princes travel back to Asgard. The combination of sound and light didn't even startle them anymore. After Thor and Loki had begun their monthly arrangement where one was present for thirty days then they switched they had all gotten so used to it. Just as Tony got ready to interrogate Steve on the particulars of the info they had gotten from SHEILD Friday came through in a big way.

"Sir there appears to be some irregular activity in an isolated sector of Norway. The village where Red Skull seized the tesseract appears to have been rebuilt and seismography is picking up an underground bunker". They all blinked blank faced for a moment at the information. Norway?

"What's the activity and can you get a read on what they're doing out there"? Tony scurried over to where he had set his Stark Pad to pull up a virtual screen for the others to view. Friday had tracked the previously untraceable vehicles containing the missing marines to the previously abandoned village Red Skull had destroyed in his fervent search for the tesseract. A frame by frame of satellite footage revealed that the base had been in construction for months before Malick had even seized the marines from Ward. A bare minimum analysis of the bunker's floor plan revealed a laboratory set up with several floors and security stations above ground.

"Well alright then. I'll get Director Coulson on the phone and see if we can borrow the Bus as well as Daisy and Mack. We may need her abilities in case the bunker has a lockdown mechanism. Before you say anything Tony we need this to be as stealthy as possible right up until we break in for those marine's safety. For all we know HYDRA has a kill switch on them if they are even still alive". Steve made sure to interrupt Tony before he insisted they didn't need Agent Johnson's help. The man had been the most incorrigible when they had found out Coulson was in fact alive and had been since three months after Loki had supposedly killed him. He blatantly refused to ask for SHEILD's current directors help and was almost downright hostile to all the members of Coulson's elite team. The only exceptions were the two scientists known as Fitz-Simmons, Tony had an intellectual respect for those two. Tony huffed but stayed silent on the subject while Cap made his phone call. Bruce just shook his head at his friend's antics. Surely Tony was over Coulson's secret by now. Once Steve got the ok from the Director he directed Tony to suit up and Bruce to grab his medical kit. He was hopeful that the only thing they could need the Doctor for was field medicine. Steve directed Black Widow to call up Hawkeye and Scarlett Witch. They would need Hawkeyes overhead guidance as well as Wanda's abilities to pinpoint the missing marines. She would be able to tell the difference between the kidnapped marines and HYDRAs scientist with a mental sweep of the base he was sure. As everyone assembled he sent up a quick prayer that one marine in particular was safe, otherwise there was no telling the damage the no doubt severely upset Bruce and Tony would create if she wasn't.

* * *

Tonsberg, Norway

HYDRA's Underground Laboratory

The head scientist for the base was sweating profusely in fear. Just minutes before a critical operation for their project they got word that the Avengers had blown the doors to the elevator access wide open. The subject in question was barely stable in the reverse engineered version of Dr. Cho's cradle. It had taken several tries to create the machine and even after they had nearly perfected it an infinity stone had to be acquired and contained as an energy source. The stone itself had lucky for them crashed down in the church that had once held a different stone. The one currently in their custody was the red Reality Stone. The troublesome thing had slaughtered countless HYDRA foot soldiers before the scientists had found a way to contain it. They then affixed it to the cradle to prevent test subject 008 from short circuiting her containment…again. If it weren't for the fact she was the only currently viable subject, they had he would have ordered her scrapped ages ago. As it was she was the only one of their nine test subjects to survive phases one and two in order to move on to phase three. He was about to start that procedure when the alert for evacuation had gone over the PA system. Currently the poor man was trying to impress the critical situation to their boss Gideon Malick.

"Sir we simply cannot move Subject 008. She is in critical condition and if we do not start Phase Three we could lose her", he pleaded with the man over video call. Gideon swore violently before he replied.

"There are only three levels between you and the Avengers Doctor so I suggest you hurry. If they catch you and take her from us I assure you that you will be dead within the hour", he hissed watching with almost glee as the other man paled severely. His glee was short lived however when he saw the door at the far end of the lab start to shake violently. He ended the call quickly before the door was blasted opened by a well-placed blast from the inhuman known as Quake.

Daisy Johnson as she was known to her friends blasted the door opened with a well-placed blast as Wanda wanted. The Sokovian woman had been partnered with her since both of their abilities guaranteed that they could move ahead of the main body of Avengers in order to find the people they needed to rescue. As they had moved down the floors knocking out several scientists along the way Wanda had deemed almost all of the missing marines deceased. Daisy had radioed the information and confirmed identities to Captain America who made sure they had positively identified each one in person. Gunnery Sergeant Waldgrave had yet to be found when suddenly Wanda's abilities had lead them to their current location.

As the dust cleared Wanda threw up a shield as the scientist occupying the laboratory drew his weapon and started firing at them. Daisy knelt at Wanda's feet and sent a carefully structured tremor through the floor in order to knock the man off balance. He fell with a cry and his weapon peppered the ceiling with holes dusting both women in plaster. Using a bit of inhuman speed Wanda kicked the weapon from his hand and out of reach. Daisy pinned him in an arm lock and proceeded to interrogate the man.

"Where is she asshole", she hissed in the man's ear while twisting his arm painfully. He would have denied it and played dumb if it wasn't for the enhanced glaring at him from one of his work tables. He knew who the blonde haired woman was and that with her abilities he wouldn't be able to lie. He gulped down the excuses he wanted to make in favor of preserving his life.

"I-in the exam room but please you m-must hurry. Her condition i-it worsens by the minute and if you do not allow me the time to stabilize her she could bury us", he shouted at them through the pain. Both women looked at each other in alarm. Wanda shook her head indicating that the man was not lying and Daisy paled and let the man up. He led them through a steel door into the exam room where both women gaped in horror at what they were seeing. Where Dr. Cho's Cradle was a seamless white steel and was well put together the mock up in front of them was a patchwork horror worthy of Dr. Frankenstein. Countless sheets of different metals made up the main frame. Multiple IVs and machines were hooked up to whomever was inside. A few beeped steady while others beeped in alarm and in the middle of this mess was a shoddily made containment field glowing red with the Aether inside.

As the scientist got to work under Wanda's critical observation Daisy pressed a finger to her in ear communicator.

"We got a problem down here Cap. We've found the Gunny but she's in a critical condition and situation. We need Dr. Banner down here as soon as possible as well as Iron Man so we can figure out how to Evac her", she stated rapidly hoping the Captain wasn't too busy knocking HYDRA heads to hear her. Instead of Captain Rogers confirmation she got Stark's.

"Cap and the others have their hands full Daisy. Brucey and I are making our way to you so try and stay put". She sighed in relief, at least her message had gotten through to the people she needed. In the meantime, the scientist had gotten some of the machines to stop beeping so incessantly and the Gunny's condition was mostly stable. Wanda immediately used her powers to put the man to sleep so they could take him with zero fuss. The next few minutes were stressful for both women as they waited for either hostile HYDRA soldiers or the two men needed to round the corner. At this point either was possible. Thus why Bruce Banner nearly got his head taken off by a blast of Wanda's powers. Luckily Tony was right behind him and yanked him back by the scruff of his coat just in time.

"It's us Wanda hold your fire"! Scarlett Witch lowered her arms at the familiar mechanized voice.

"It took you long enough Stark", Wanda stated angrily pointing to the laboratory door they needed. One look at what they had done to Eleanor had both Bruce's and the Other Guy's blood boiling in sync. He bottled it and went to work analyzing the set up HYDRA had to make sure her vitals were stable. Meanwhile Tony was calling the Iron Legion to help transport her to the Bus outside. A lot of the machinery she was hooked up to was deemed critical by Bruce. In particular, the Aether hooked up to the middle of the Cradle was an issue and required careful transport. Thankfully at that exact moment Steve reported that he, Widow, Hawkeye, and Mack had incapacitated the minimal forces HYDRA had stationed there with little difficulty.

* * *

Once back at Avengers tower both Fitz-Simmons and Dr. Cho were already waiting to assist Bruce and Tony with an evaluation of Eleanor's condition. It became quickly apparent to Dr. Cho and Dr. Banner that in caparison to her military medical record her bodies entire composition had changed. An in depth analysis of both her DNA and her bodies basic composition provided by Dr. Simmons had yielded troubling results. When compared to that of resident inhumans and enhanced both it was both similar yet radically different. In fact, it more closely resembled that of the samples they had on file for Thor and Loki which was impossible. For her to have similar DNA to that of the Asgardians was physically impossible yet no matter how many tests they did the results were the same. HYDRA had fundamentally altered the poor woman's DNA probably permanently. Once he received their report Steve forced himself to make a few calls to the Gunnery Sergeant's superiors who had been on call ever since her and her men had gone missing. The men were unhappy of course but with pressure from both Steve and Director Coulson they preceded with an administrative discharge and a custody agreement for SHEILD. After all such a thing was far outside the scope of what the military could handle.

While Steve and Phil took care of the administrative needs Tony, Bruce, and Dr. Cho took care of her more immediate medical ones as well as the Infinity Stone HYDRA had somehow gotten a hold of. A message was sent via Tony's phone to Loki's in hopes that some help from the Asgardian's might be available. There was no telling where they and the Guardian were though so he didn't hold out too much hope that the Trickster would get their message all that soon. While he waited he hacked the files he had stolen from the laboratory in order to find out what they were trying to do. When he finally broke the encryption he paled at the contents and called an immediate emergency meeting of the Avenger's inner circle sans Thor of course.

Everyone piled into the conference room with minimal fuss but much grumbling from Hawkeye. He had been on his way back to his family when Stark recalled them. The look on Stark's face when he entered the room prompted Clint to shut his mouth though. It was the same face from the footage of the Aldrich Killian incident immediately after he thought that Pepper Potts had died. They all took their seats quietly and waited for the man to speak. Instead of speaking he brought up a screen with an old HYDRA project file on screen. Said project file had Captain America stiffening in surprise and horror. Project Valkyrie is what the file said and all their records had that as being Johan Schmitt's brain child. Tony turned to them and began to explain how this project carried farther back than the Red Skull and had originally a completely different method of world domination. It was originally put together by the older Scandinavian branch of HYDRA and focused on using a combination of occult knowledge and old world science to find and break through the doors of Valhalla and utilized the immortal Valkyrie as soldier in their misguided little army. The whole thing was insane but apparently in his plan to resurrect the old HYDRA Malick felt that the project needed to be brought back. It was obvious to all present that the man was insane however, the woman currently lying in a medically induced coma in Dr. Cho's Cradle was living proof that the HYDRA scientists had managed something potentially ground breaking. They had someone taken apart Eleanor Waldgrave's DNA and reconstructed it into Asgardian DNA. The transformation wasn't complete though.

Dr. Simmons's analysis had revealed holes in the process that left behind some human DNA that was currently fighting the Asgardian DNA for dominance. The fight was wreaking havoc on the poor woman's immune system and without some well-placed and potentially magical intervention it was likely to kill her. After Tony finished speaking they all sat there in shock. Right when they needed Thor and Loki the most they weren't there and potentially out of contact for another two weeks at least. The only thing they could do was keep the Gunny stable and hope that Tony's message to Loki got through in time.

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A/N:

*whew* "There's chapter one everybody"!

"As much as I hate to leave things at such a depressing cliff hanger there is good news coming in the next chapter I promise. In the meantime please review".


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